AN: Back to the North. A shorter chapter this time that gives us a conversation about dragons and secrets, and a glimpse at the uneasy alliance between Daenerys and Stannis. Hope you'll enjoy it!

A Kinship in the Cold

"Is the dragon truly your friend?"

Daenerys smiled warmly at the words of the little greyscaled girl clinging to her waist. They rode together on the great brown heavy horse her men had brought for her. Above their heads, her beloved black-scaled child let out a roar as if he had heard he was being talked about.

"Yes. He is my friend, but also my child. It may seem hard to comprehend at first, but it is a special bond that we share. One that cannot easily be put into words."

"Does he have a name?" Shireen continued as if the bonding of rider and dragon did not seem all too foreign for her.

"His name is Rhaegon," the dragon queen replied. "I named him for my mother, Queen Rhaella, and Aegon the Conqueror."

"Aegon rode Balerion the Black Dread," Shireen added eagerly. "Your dragon looks almost the same as Balerion. At least like the way I imagined Balerion to look like. I have read about him."

Daenerys held the reins tighter as they rode through the vast white nothingness towards Castle Black.

"You like reading, cousin Shireen? Then you will love the books I have brought from Essos. Many an old tome, some in languages you might not even have heard of. They are all being delivered to Dragonstone as we speak."

She imagined the girl must like that idea, but for a long cold moment, there came no reply. Then, hesitantly, Shireen asked:

"Will you live there now?"

Daenerys, too, waited a moment before answering. "What makes you think that?"

"It's your family's ancestral seat, isn't it?"

"And yet you it has been your home for all your life. We were both born there," Daenerys emphasized and turned her head to smile at Shireen. "We are both ladies of Dragonstone."

At that, the girl finally returned the smile. "Father says it's a place of great importance, old and noble, meant for the royal family to reside there. But you are the queen now… aren't you? And I don't think he has ever liked Dragonstone. His face is always so dark."

"It must have been dark and lonely for you, too."

"Sometimes," Shireen replied lightly. "But I had books and birds and the sea, oh, and Ser Davos, of course."

Daenerys nodded. "Your father's right hand man."

"Yes. Just as father is yours now. Or is he?" Shireen's voice grew uncertain. "He is no longer a king, I have heard the men whisper. They say you saved them, that you are the queen because your men brought bread and life back when all hope was lost. Some say the Red God sent you."

"And what is it that you believe?"

Again there was silence for quite a while.

"I know that you saved me, queen… cousin Daenerys. You came for me when no one else would. But I do not think any god had a hand in it. You are your own mistress. You command dragons. I doubt a god could tell you what to do."

At that, Daenerys had to muffle a bout of laughter. She enjoyed her little kinswoman's company like few other things, and most of all she enjoyed her critical and honest mind, which she spoke freely more often than not. The queen was about to comment on the idea of being on par with the gods when she heard hooves crack through the snow behind her and saw Aurane's horse approaching.

"My queen, Lord Stannis wishes to speak to you," he said, his gaze briefly touching Shireen before turning to his queen again.

She stopped her horse gently. "He may come, but he will not speak to her," she insisted, looking at her cousin behind her. "Go with Captain Aurane, please, cousin. You remember him, don't you?"

"He was at my seventh nameday feast," Shireen nodded. She did not seem too pleased to leave the queen, but she complied nonetheless.

Only after the girl had safely changed from one horse to the other did Daenerys turn around and motion for her new ally to be brought forward. He had been given a fresh horse by her men so as to maintain his dignity, and with less hunger to hollow his cheeks Stannis Baratheon even seemed somewhat imposing to her. Still, she was determined to prove to him that she deserved his respect and deference, and she would not be thawed now.

"Kinsman," she said in a serious tone as they began to ride next to each other. "You wished to speak to me. Is it about Captain Waters?"

"Him as well as other matters," Stannis grudgingly admitted. "My soldiers appreciate your help and support, but that man is not welcome to us. He is a scoundrel and his house has proved disloyal in the past."

"Disloyal to you," she adamantly pointed out. "The Velaryons have always been loyal to my family. What did you expect?"

Stannis's face remained stern. "They are sworn to Dragonstone."

"To Dragonstone. Not to you." She stared ahead into the snowy distance without even so much as shooting him a glance. "Captain Waters has been one of the first to come to my cause, and he has been a true and loyal friend ever since. A man of humble birth and dubious life choices, no doubt, but I take it you also have one such in your service, and he has served you well, has he not?"

"He has paid for his crimes," Stannis insisted.

"And what payment would you want me to collect from Aurane Waters? Should I punish him for following me instead of you?" As if to answer herself, Daenerys shook her head slightly. "Allow me to give you advice: Do not fret about Captain Waters. He is inconsequential. As are you or me, for that matter, if we do not win the war that is about to engulf the entire world in eternal winter. I have asked you to let bygones be bygones, even though members of our families have greatly wronged each other. Compared to what Aerys wanted to do to Robert, compared to what Robert did to my niece and nephew, what matter is the shifted loyalty of a house never truly sworn to you in the first place?"

Stannis said nothing, but from the corner of her eye she could see he was brooding. He did not like her words, yet apparently he saw the truth that was in them. Many cold breaths later he finally cleared his throat to speak again.

"When can I see my daughter?"

"When I see fit," she answered rather dryly.

"My wife is asking about her."

"Then she should not have tried to burn her daughter to death," Daenerys lashed out in a sudden loud voice. Above her, Rhaegon gave another cry. She knew he sensed her anger, so she forced herself to calm down again. "Forgive my temper, I truly understand your reasons for acting the way you did. Many others would not, they would call you a heartless child murderer, but I can appreciate the sacrifice you were willing to make for the sake of mankind. Your wife, however… I feel she does not understand half of what is going on. She is a fanatic and that red woman has her wrapped around her fingers. Forgive me if their zealotry almost killing one of the few relatives I have left angers me."

He did not look at her, but the way his head moved almost seemed like a nod. Stannis would not admit she was right about his wife or Melisandre, she knew that, but perhaps she could get him to think about it more. A man who questioned more and believed less did not burn as many people.

"Still, I wish to speak to her. To explain things."

"As I said, there will be a time for this, but it is not today. She has suffered greatly, and I will not subject her to any more cruelties."

"You truly see her as kin, then." Stannis's words sounded like a statement, but really they were a question, one that Daenerys answered with a finger pointing towards the sky.

Above them, Rhaegon's dark features shot through the low-hanging foggy clouds.

"My dragon has accepted her as kin. She has dragon's blood in her veins, more than most Baratheons, I assume. I even guess there is a good reason she has survived greyscale, for she is stronger than she seems. One day, that strength will be direly needed. She will play an important part in the future I intend to build, but even more importantly, she is a girl. A frightened girl in need of protection."

Stannis looked her in the eyes, seemingly unaffected by the dragon's newest roar above their heads.

"You were like her once. But no one protected you," he said. This time, it was no question.

Daenerys tried not to take it as a slight. "I have no more need of protection."

"No, most likely you do not. Your army is strong, you command dragons, and you wield a sword," Stannis agreed, pointing to the hilt of the blade at her hip.

"I bled and suffered for all of them."

Stannis nodded. "That is what true leaders do."

"Thank you for the conversation, cousin Stannis. We will have more to speak on once we reach Castle Black. There are things best not spoken about but rather shown, and I promise you will understand much and more once we arrive. And perhaps by then, I will deem it feasible again for you to be with Shireen."

He clearly did not like her choice of words, but for now he accepted, whether it was because of Rhaegon's wails above them or the fact that he actually put credence to her judgement was hard to say. But he nodded once more before falling back into the ranks of his own men, not missing to shoot a dark glance to Aurane Waters, who passed him by smiling as he rode back towards Daenerys with Shireen behind him.

"Are you having an argument?" the girl immediately asked once she had been brought face to face with the dragon queen.

"We were discussing political matters, cousin Shireen. It would be a bad sign if we did not disagree every once in a while, for without disagreement we would not be human."

The girl pondered her words before nodding. "I guess you are right. If we always agreed, we would be like them." She didn't point at anyone or anything, but her long gaze into the whiteness made it clear just who she was referring to.

"Have you seen the Others, little girl?" Aurane curiously chimed in.

"No, I haven't, and I'm no little girl," Shireen gave back somewhat angrily.

Daenerys smiled at that and shot Aurane a playful glance. "She is right, Captain Waters. She is a noble, highborn lady, and you had better address her as befits her station." Then, with a lower voice, she turned to Shireen. "Forgive my friend, Lady Shireen, he is a rascal. A ne'er-do-well. A scoundrel."

The girl was about to accept the apology, but Aurane's dramatic voice interrupted her.

"My queen, you wound me!" he exclaimed loudly. "A scoundrel, me? Never! Would a scoundrel carry a noble maiden such as Lady Shireen with him and still be able to keep his hands off her? Would any rascal muster the strength not to abduct her on his ships, to take her away to a faraway land where he could be king and she his queen?"

Daenerys began to laugh, and her little cousin certainly felt uncomfortable at the mention of being the older man's queen. She pinched him in the side and protested, but he just gave another heart-wrenching sound of despair.

"My queen, now my lady wounds me as well, and quite literally so! Oh, poor, poor me, has there ever been a man more miserable?"

"Stop it, Captain, please," Daenerys begged between muffled cries of laughter. "What if they hear us? What will her father think?"

"The riding headache-turned-man can be as miffed as he wishes for all I care," Aurane returned, but now she shot him a truly serious glance. "Alright, I will cease my suffering, but not because of him. You are my queen, and I am bound to obey and please you."

She nodded sternly, as if to get herself back together. "Yes, you are."

Behind him, Shireen had regained her composure as well, and she now tried her best to ignore him even if she still clung to his waist so as not to fall off the horse.

"Are all your friends like him?" she wondered.

"No, not at all. Most know their manners quite well," Daenerys said in a mockingly harsh tone. "But all men are flawed, as are women. It matters not what those flaws are as long as they are outmatched by talents and graces."

"So you are saying I am talented," Aurane threw in with a grin.

Daenerys frowned. "Cousin Shireen, would you please chastise my captain for me?"

The girl complied without a comment, simply pinching him in the side again, only harder than before. He wailed loudly once more, and Daenerys rolled her eyes at his demeanour before both she and Shireen shared a knowing laughter.

"When we arrive at Castle Black, I want to introduce you to my friend, Ser Davos. He is very kind," Shireen added, for the first time since her almost-death seeming at ease. "Say you will meet him."

"Of course," Daenerys assured her. "I have been looking forward to meeting him ever since you first told me of him. He seems to be a very good friend."

"Oh, he is! I have taught him how to read, did you know? He was not able to before, but now he can read the The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms all on his own. Well, it still sounds weird when he reads it out loud, and he is rather slow, but…"

"But everything he can do now he owes to you," Daenerys completed smiling. And with a glance to Aurane, she added: "It is good to have friends who strive to make you better. A true friend will always help you to achieve your true potential."

The girl nodded eagerly. Then, after a moment of contemplation, she spoke her mind rather quietly.

"I wish I had met you sooner."

"As do I," the dragon queen agreed. "But now we have met, and many more good moments will follow. You will introduce me to your friend at Castle Black, and do you know what? I'll also introduce you to more of my family there. Our family."

"The other dragons?" Shireen gleefully asked.

Daenerys smiled and nodded slowly. "So you have heard about them. Yes, my remaining children will come to Castle Black, and you will also meet their riders."

"But… but my father said there were no more Targaryens in the world. That you were the only one left."

"He was mistaken, as was everyone else. The Targaryens were never gone, cousin Shireen. They were merely hiding, and now they are returning."

AN: Secret Targaryens? There are many fan theories about them, and for this story, I have decided to incorporate some of them. If you want to speculate, go back to chapter 2 and read Daenerys's thoughts about her dragons. Guesses and ideas are always welcome in the reviews! Also, please let me know if you like this story format with shorter scenes that can easily be read in one sitting. Stay Next update will be there on Monday or Tuesday and will reveal one of the secret Targaryens. So stick around and stay tuned!